View on the Missouri, Alluvial Banks Falling in, 600 Miles above St. Louis

Media - 1985.66.363 - SAAM-1985.66.363_1 - 81444
Copied George Catlin, View on the Missouri, Alluvial Banks Falling in, 600 Miles above St. Louis, 1832, oil on canvas, 11 1414 38 in. (28.536.4 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.363
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
View on the Missouri, Alluvial Banks Falling in, 600 Miles above St. Louis
Date
1832
Dimensions
11 1414 38 in. (28.536.4 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Keywords
  • Western
  • Landscape — river — Missouri River
Object Number
1985.66.363

Artwork Description

George Catlin painted views of the Missouri River during the spring floods, and this image suggests that the ground he stood on was threatened by rising waters. He wrote that the river was “filled with snags and rafts, formed of trees of the largest size” and that such conditions made for a “most frightful and discouraging prospect for the adventurous voyageur.” Catlin had a sense of humor, and called the Missouri his “River of Sticks, ” playing on the mythological river Styx that leads to the underworld. (Letters and Notes, vol. 1, no. 3, 1841; reprint 1973)